Boston, Cape Cod, end of some things...beginnings of others...

So, I got another year older last month. Yup. It was a pretty pithy showing on the celebrations side of things. Not even a cake. I received one single card (Nate) and one single book as a gift (thanks Bob!). Is this what happens when you start to get old? I got alot of really nice email/Facebook/text birthday wishes and my mom and dad (and Bob) both called me several times. :) Steven sent me a nice birthday text-- I guess that's the next generation thing to do. My parents, who have always (and I mean ALWAYS) been on the ball about birthdays, sent me a nice, fat check about 2 weeks later. I forgive them because they had their hands full with a couple garage sales and selling/closing on my Grampa's house in St. Paul. I haven't been around in MN lately for all the hectic'ness, but it has been palpable when I've talked to them on the phone in between everything. My point of the whole matter is that as a kid birthdays were fabulous, full-day celebrations (from which I have many great memories), but now that I'm an "adult" things are starting to change to a more laid-back style of things. We make our own fun I guess! Oh, growing "pains".....

Now don't be feeling bad for me or anything; Nate and I had a grand trip to Boston and Cape Cod over the weekend of my birthday. It was pretty fun and nice to get away from Philly and work and the routine for an extended weekend of 5 days or so. We did the "Freedom Trail" which is about a 6ish mile long walk through the city along a pre-destined path at and between various historical sites such as the Bunker Hill monument, Quincy Markey, historic cemeteries, wharves, Paul Revere's house, and the Harbor. We also visited the Harvard University campus, stopping in at the Natural History Museum. We walked around the famed Harvard Yard (Hah-vahd Yah-d, as they say) and rubbed the bronze toe of memorialized Mr. Harvard. We also went to one of the many meccas of my academic world, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I didn't drag Nate around toooooo much.....I swear. We took the T to and from our hotel and around town everywhere we didn't walk, which was great. I swear I am going to miss great mass transit the most about the east coast. Oh, Twin Cities.....your myopia is so pathetic.... At least the LR is expanding--- finally....

After Boston, we drove down along the coast, stopping in Plymouth, Massachussetts. There we saw the enshrined Plymouth Rock and picked up some delicious salt water taffy before moving on to the Cape. We took the full drive down the Cape through the National Park as far as you can drive without a 4-wheel-drive vehicle and a special "drive-on-sand" permit. There were plenty of Cape regulars with their jeeps and SUVs plugging along the sand to get out closer to the solitude of the lighthouses and farther away from civilization along the seashore. Back on the Park circuit, the road was nearly enclosed on both sides by sand dunes, which I haven't seen since I was west of the Rockies. Very beautiful country and I finally understand for myself the allure of bunking up in a tiny tin, cape-side shack that probably costs thousands to rent for even a week-- just to have a lil piece of the ocean and quiet for a while.

I should add that we probably spent more money that weekend on finding the best local seafood joints we could, than lodging and gasoline. I can honestly say that I had some of the best clam chowder and oysters while we were on this trip. I do have to say, though, that a local place just up the street from us in Philly actually wins the best mussels award so far!

I learned a bit about the arrangement of some more of the New England states, which I could not have explained before this trip. To get to Boston from from Philly (and back), you have to go through New Jersey, then a tiny bit of New York, then Connecticut, then Rhode Island, then Massachussetts. It's crazy how conglomerated so many states are, at least to me, a midwesterner. It -- very literally, because we timed it -- took us 38 minutes to cross the entire state of Rhode Island!!! And that was the LONG way (from SW to NE corners)!!! Myth confirmed! That was pretty awesome. I also have heard (especially now these days since Philly is just over the border from NJ) that New Jersey is often called the "armpit of America," but I found the Garden State to be the most pleasant drive on the trip next to the Cape. The Garden State Parkway was also a great alternative to having to drive through the heart of NYC to get around the Big Apple to get to Connecticut. All in all, our road warrior, the '94 Nissan Sentra held up well and continues to carry us to amazing places. Here's hoping we can get that Ford Fusion Hybrid soon........(we're currently working on that!!)

With the cash I got for my birthday, I decided to spend it on an awesome gadget I read about in one of my favorite mags: Wired. I RARELY read about a new techie gadget and say to myself, "I HAVE to have this!!," but for some reason this one just jumped out at me and stuck. I went ahead and bought myself a Nike+. Currently somewhere in USPS or UPS land, my gadget is going to attach to my shoe and another bit my ipod, and then when I go for runs, track data about my running that I can upload to a computer program and track my progress (or lack thereof...). I've always wanted a better way to motivate myself and I've read tons of good things about this gadget, so, here's hoping for an awesome new toy!! If you've tried this thingy, let me know how you liked it (or not). :)

This month is the concluding month of my 10-month long internship with the Near Eastern Section at Penn. I'll be happy to have gotten great professional experience and made some great new contacts, but I'll be equally as happy to get to scratch the itch that is getting away from my supervisor. However, I asked to stay on for the month of September (and maybe part of October until we move) to work (read: volunteer) with the Loans Registrar, whom I've become acquainted with and like. This is one area of museum registration and collections management that I've been dying to more of, that is, work with loans (of objects/artefacts to and from other museum institutions, for ye laypeople). There is alot of work that goes into organizing and making loans happen in a museum, including but not limited to dealing with US (and foreign) customs, (often international) shipping, agricultural depts, etc. For instance, what do you do if it is your job to get an object back that belongs to your museum for which the period of the loan (per the contract) has expired, the borrowing museum has poorly planned finances and now has no money to ship (or courier) it back to you (more than 2,000 miles away across an ocean), and the object is a 1,000 pound, life-sized Buddha statue, and the US Dept of Agric. tells you that you can only ship it in a crate made out of a certain type of wood? Yes, people, this is what I want to learn more about and would love to do professionally, for real. I want to build my skills! So that's what I'll be doing in September and I'm looking forward to it. :)

Nate and I are also apartment hunting in the west metro area for October, so if you know of anything that sounds good, let me know!

Here's some recent pics:

Me, doing a lil dance cuz I'm so happy to be at the Cape!

Nate and Plymouth Rock

Me, at Ye Olde Union Oyster House, one of the Kennedy hang-outs

Boston Harbor and downtown Boston

Nate and I in front of the original (not the replica!) Cheers bar!

Lyon Days of Summer

So recently Nate and I have been pretty busy, which is the way it should be in the summertime.

My "little" brother Steven graduated from high school this spring, so Nate and I both flew back in mid-June to celebrate at his grad party. This "quadrupled" (or more) as a good trip to celebrate my other brother's birthday, Father's Day, and Nate's sister Liz's August departure to China to teach English for a year near the city of Xi'an (well-known for its archaeological wonder the 'Terracotta Army'). Besides all of these celebrations, we did a lil apartment hunting around Lake Calhoun, which is where we want to live this fall when we move back. It will make Nate's work commute short and my access to downtown and transit (and JOBS) pretty good too. It was nice and weird to visit the "Cities," as we call it, knowing that we would be going back.

I guess it was a lil bit of solidification that, yes, we are indeed going 'home.' I think in many ways it made me (and Nate too) more conflicted about the decision to do so, rather than easier. I think in our chosen group of peers and generally with many Gen X'ers (is that the right one?? I can never figure out which Gen I am exactly), the need, and often necessity, to explore and live/work cross-country (or abroad, as the case may be) is often so much emphasized and considered a 'desirable' quality both professionally and socially. It has always felt to me that I have alienated alot of my older (and some same generation) family members with all of my traveling and living away from home. I got over that part. However, it is strange in a sense to "come home," as if doing so is viewed as making a concession or fulfilling our destined status quo. It may still take some time, but I think I am slowly accepting that our next geographical status is not such a thing, but rather a bending to both the economic will of the country (and globe, for that matter) as well as our underlying desire to end up near family. It just is happening much sooner than I think we both wanted, but these things cannot always be helped. Nor do things always work out the way you plan. When we made the decision to come out to Philly, it was late July/early August 2008---- about 2 months shy of the total economic meltdown. I'm lucky I was in the job market earlier last year and even secured anything at all before that meltdown. There's no way we could have known how hard it would be for either of us to secure a new job upon landing here, that is-- Nate by the end of 2008 and me by August 2009. Right now, mentioning that you are on the market for a job is pretty much a joke. And trust me, Nate TRIED to get a job. I know, because I hardly saw him in the evenings between November and April/May while he was glued to his computer searching for something. Not to mention several close, but unsucessful interviews, which in a better market would have landed him a job several times over, I believe. Anyway, our best recourse, through luck and strategy, has been for Nate to keep the job he has (quite a premium on KEEPING your job....) and return from contract to salary status (in-office) in October/November after our move. I'll be on the market again for something new and do some descending or lateral professional movement with internships (unpaid) until I find something "good." That's the plan anyway, and we all know how often Plan A's are stuck to. A work in progress is what I see in our future.

Last weekend (the weekend after our MN trip), our Lyon friends, Nicki and Dusty, came to visit us for a long weekend from NYC. I've known Dustin since our days in undergrad and then got to know both during grad school in MO. They moved out to NYC so Dustin could go to seminary at St. Vlad's in Yonkers, and so we FINALLY got together out here on the E. coast! We did a bunch of touristy stuff, but taking it easy too. We went to the Morris Arboretum which is just up the street from us and which Nate and I saw last fall with all the beautiful colors. This time, the huge rose garden was in full bloom, which was gorgeous. We also went to see Independence Hall, which when my parents were here in February ended up being evacuated mid-tour due to a gas leak (thanks Steven.....), so we were forced to find other entertainment and miss half the Hall! This time we got the FULL tour, as well as saw some of the original copies of important American documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. We also went into an old U.S. bank building converted into a portrait gallery full of images of historically famous Americans. Of course, we saw the Liberty Bell (for me, my 3rd time) which is always fun.

Furthermore, in the greater Independence Park area there is the historical American Philosophical Society's building, which happens to be right next to Indep. Hall. The APS is a well-established, great society of learning, science, other things. Their website (http://www.amphilsoc.org/) gives a description of their society as, "An eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, the American Philosophical Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. This country's first learned society, the APS has played an important role in American cultural and intellectual life for over 250 years." Established through the advocacy of Benjamin Franklin, the Society has many recognizable founding members, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, James Madison, and Thomas Paine. As a learned society dedicated to the investigation of scientific, natural, and technological knowledge, the APS is an important founding establishment of the United States. Another quote from the APS website states, "The enlightened terms of the Society's charter and the location of Philosophical Hall adjacent to the seat of government clearly illustrate how closely the new nation linked learning and freedom, regarding each as the support and protection of the other." I bring this all up because they had a really wonderful, small exhibition on the documents which Charles Darwin left behind. Of course, the name 'Darwin' always stirs the pot in a mixed crowd, unfortunately. It was a one-room gallery with displays of the hand-illustrated and often hand-written scientific notebooks from Darwin's many projects and voyages, as well as other texts from contemporary naturalists and explorers. It also included some interesting mechanical inventions from Darwin's time, too. All in all, it was a nice lil exhibition, from which I gleaned something new-- that is to say "learned something."

Having said all this, it was not a surprise that the exhibition turned off some tourists and park-go'ers, albeit incredibly unfortunate and ignorant on their parts. I have to report one woman's irrational and rude behavior toward one of the gallery attendants and in front of all those perusing the gallery. She walked into the foyer of the gallery and demanded to know what Darwin had to do with Independence Hall, the Constitution, and America. "Why is this here and what does THIS have to do with the Constitution?!?" is one question she practically yelled at a gallery employee handing out gallery guides. I couldn't hear what the employee said from across the gallery, probably because she was talking at a normal volume. Whatever she said to mollify the crazy, ignorant woman apparently didn't entice her to stroll in and see for herself. She stormed out, husband (presumably) and child in tow. It was pretty ridiculous. And, it was obvious that throughout the gallery, people were incredulous and whispering to one another about what happened. After this incident, I reflected about what had happened and deemed her just another dumb American who perpetuates ignorance on the basis of not inquiring for oneself new and different ("foreign") information. People like her tend to only listen to and read the words of others with whom they already (think) they agree. That is NOT learning and what does that teach your kids about learning? You learn nothing about the "other" side (which of course, is a polarization view, rather than a broad spectrum view), except perhaps what other, already like-minded people tell you, which is often distorted through an opinionated, dogmatic, agenda-based lens. To truly learn, one must read and listen to the words of others with whom they feel they may not agree or understand. This incites analytical and independent thinking, and thereby, learning. The APS building, to answer her heated inquiries, has been there nearly as long as Independence Hall. It is a free society of learning. It is exercising its rights to publish that knowledge to a hopefully learning-hungry (democratic re-)public wanting to exercise its rights to be educated and understand the world around them in as many ways as they can. These are the reasons why the yelling woman was wrong to walk out of an exhibit she thought didn't belong. However, by the same token, she was also well within her rights to exercise her freedom to believe what she wishes. It goes both ways (or no one gets freedoms) and I guess we all have to learn to accept that. You might say I learned a little more about what liberty in America is that day.

Getting around town some more and to some of the other close-by cities is still on Nate's and my to-do list before the fall. Right now we are tentatively planning a trip to Boston for my birthday weekend, and I also really want to go to VA to see Monticello, Jefferson's estate just outside DC. Of course, we want to go to NYC and visit the Lyons and downtown, but that will proly come in August/September. I wonder if we have enough weekends to fit it all in!!

Stay tuned and here are some fun pics from our summer adventures!

hat boxes in Independence Hall for those crazy, old hats the early American men wore!

Benjamin Franklin

Nate and I at the arboretum

Nate listening to nature

Dustin, Nate and I in front of the giant twigs sculpture at the arboretum

Something fun

A - Age: One quarter century (but not much longer...)
B - Bed size: Queen, but no frame yet :(
C - Chore you hate: dusting during pollen season
D - Dog's name: Pig (totally theoretical for my future pug)
E - Essential start your day item: cold juice and hot coffee
F - Favorite color(s): purple and green
G - Gold or Silver: white gold, but gold good for heirlooms
H - Height: 5'4"
I - Instruments you play(ed): violin, piano, (oh so briefly) guitar
J - Job title: on official paperwork "assistant curator," but I'm actually the Kevorkian (no, not the crazy one) Foundation sponsored Intern in the Near Eastern Section
K - Kid(s): Can't I get younger instead of older? maybe one day I'll push my own strollers
L - Living arrangements: apartment in a building full of musty old folks
M - Mom's name: "Mom"
N - Nicknames: Chris, Chrismas, and even "Chrissy" by a few (but you gota be special for that one!)
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: don't think so, but I did bring a college roommate for an emergency, overnight stay once when she came wailing in pain into my room
P - Pet Peeve(s) - clueless retards talking on the phone while driving
Q - Quote from a movie: "the dude abides"
R - Right or left handed: right, mostly, but due to many hand issues, i'm pretty darn good with my left at most things
S - Siblings: 2 younger brothers (plus, 3 brothers-in-law, 2 sisters-in-law)
T - Time you wake up: varies, is there coffee? these days- between 7 and 9
U - Underwear: wah? yes, i wear this. I did have a college friend who didn't wear underwear when she didnt have time to do laundry...with jeans!
V - Vegetable you dislike: cooked carrots, canned corn (fish bait!), canned green beans, creamed spinach (why??)
W - Weather preference: 70, sunny, slight breeze
X - X-rays you've had: how many? hmmm... oh so many- hands, knees, shins, ankles- and there was one creepy chest x-ray to check for TB in an Athenian clinic (required to renew student visa)
Y - Yesterday's best moment: Nate telling me to try my new computer (or rather, my 8 year old one, which he updated- yippee!)
Z - Zoo favorite: elephants, penguins

Old Faithful

Yes, Old Faithful.  And I don't mean the faucet; I mean Nate and his continued ability to entertain me, even at the cost of soaking everything in our bathroom....!

This is a picture of Nate from last night shortly after his little mishap.  I was in the living room enjoying the latest movie version of Pride and Prejudice (with Kiera Knightly, and might I say that the BBC mini-series version is 10x better).  I had been upset earlier because our apt management has successfully sucked for the last several days (and months, but whose counting?), which included a planned, but unwarned water shut-off (VERY bad move) and then one of our bathroom faucets started to drip worse as a result of whatever they had been doing during the water shut-off.  So, they sent a maintenance man to fix it.  He made a mess, didn't pick up after himself, put the knobs on backwards, and "fixed" it so good that you had to turn the knobs at least a full half turn before water came out-- pretty bad handyman.  

Enter Nate.  Nate, sensing my frustration decided, like any good husband, that maybe he could try to fix it himself.  I don't believe in this, since we are paying good rent to have someone do this for us.  Well, whatever- I was preoccupied and didn't really care.  After a little while of hearing some tinkering and thoughtful shuffling coming from the other end of the apt, I suddenly hear a HUGE "whoooooooooossshhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" and "ssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"  Sounds like something exploded....with water.

I didn't hear any sounds really, besides quick shuffling and clinking and the ceasing of the large water rushing noise.  No yelling or yelping or cries for help or larges sighs.  Ok, well, maybe he's got it under control.  Maybe it sounded worse than it is, especially since I have my movie volume cranked up.  Maybe I just imagined it....

Curiosity got the better of me, of course, so I hit Pause and hollared back to the strangely silent apt, swearing I hear lots of dripping.  "Are you OK Nate?  What happened?  Did you fix it?"  As I write this now, I am giggling but then-- oh boy, I was beginning to wonder.

I unwrapped myself from my confortable couch position, slipped on my slippers and walked back to find Nate.  And what a state I found him in.  Soaked-- himself, his head, his glasses, the counter, the big mirror, the ceiling, the floor, all my "prettying products."  And, Nate is just standing there, pretty much in shock-- not running for a towel or yelling for me.  Instead, I'm staring at him and beginning to laugh uncontrollably, not helping either, while he turns away semi-giggling and in husbandly shame.  "How the hell did you do this?!  What happened?"  A lowly, and whiny "I don't know....." was the response.  "Where's my camera?" I think once I get a hold of myself.  

Nate is standing in a pool of water all around him.  The culprit: an open faucet head which erupted like a holy font, baptising Nate in all the wonder that is home maintenance and plumbing knowledge.  He says, luckily, that he turned the water off beforehand, but I'm not entirely sure I believe him.  Either way, I grabbed some towels and handed them off and basically said "have fun," while continuing to laugh uncontrollably and assess the situation by watching the guilty accept what he has to do to clean up his mess, as well as slowly accept that what he did was pretty awesome and hilarious.

So I took a few pictures to document my findings and went back to my movie, intermittantly laughing between scenes about the drama in my own home.

That night I stood on cold tile to wash up for bed while my soaking wet bathroom rugs hung to dry.  But I didn't mind....  Thoughts of Old Faithful distracted me.

After crawling into bed, and chatting with Nate, I couldn't help but laugh some more as we fell asleep.  He credited his "cat-like reflexes" (his words) with saving the bathroom from further, certain ruin.  I laughed some more and drifted off.

Here are some more pictures:

MN again

So we are pretty sure we are coming back to the Twin Cities in the fall....
Just wanted to post a lil heads up since I have been so slow to update the latest. I will this week sometime because I have some fun pics to post from a historic prison!!

employment for nate

I just wanted to make an update that Nate has 2 (count them: 2) job interviews this week. One on Tuesday and one on Friday.

Fingers crossed?



Time for bed.

zzz...

Nate's in the kitchen making triple chocolate cookies, while I'm sitting here at my desk in the office writing this and hardly able to stay awake.

I have already laid out my clothes for tomorrow for work, I'm buying my lunch tomorrow (too tired to make my own, despite the mental nagging to be thrifty as usual), I just cleaned my dresser mirror which Nate and his dad so kindly put up for me today while I was at work (Terry, Nate's dad, was in town for a day for a work conference), I thought about doing some yoga but scrapped that knowing full well that during the mediatation exercise I would just fall asleep on my bedroom rug like I used to in yoga class....(relaxation, people!), LOST is recording on the DVR and I'm not so sure I'm gona make it through tonight's episode with this serious case of the sleepies, and I, quite frankly, didn't feel like doing anything in which I would have to exert myself, except perhaps brushing my teeth a little early, but that seemed pointless too, seeing as though I would doubtless need to taste-test what comes out of the oven in a little while.

....

Speaking of taste-testing, Nate just brought me the bowl and spoon to lick from all the premium chocolate he melted....mmmm....ghiradelli....mmmm... What a nice husband. :)

....

Anyway, I am totally drained and it is only Wednesday. For the last three days I have been delusional, thinking it was Friday at various points of the day while at work. I'm not usually this catatonic at work; who knows. I think I'm just tired in general and hit a temporary wall. There are several things that seem to be contributing to my fatigue, and they all seem like reasonable excuses, which I'm sure someone could validate for me. First, Nate didn't get that second job he applied for and so hoped to get-- big poo poo on that one. Then, we didn't know until last Friday whether or not he would be employed past yesterday (his company extended his contract another quarter, so til end of June--- yippeee!, but wait- there's more...). We still don't know what we are going to do long term for employment and whether or not his company will take him back (and back on salary) if we decide to 'retreat' from this economic bust back to Minnesota. We live in a constant state of flux, and have for about a year now-- it is getting pretty damn old and stressful.
Second, my supervisor caused me to hit an emotional/professional wall on Monday. I was so upset by some of the things she said to me and how she said them that I could have clobbered her. Instead, I went up to my office, away from her, and called to complain to Nate, then subsequently was consoled by a close colleague who is starting to see and feel some of the supervisor's shit as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my job; I just hate it when one person really ruins much of the experience by getting under your skin. Thicker skin? I'm working on that, but how thick must it really be? I am not a crocodile, nor do I thick that should be necessary. Stand up to the little....., and risk an all out brawl in which my future employment references could be sabotaged? Not good either.

I'm ranting because I'm tired. This chocolate helps pretty awesomely though...

Maybe I'll go brush my teeth after all.

Flurries of thought

So- the "free" flow of thought begins.
Recently, much has been going on at the same time as nothing- know what I mean?

Nate has been job searching, which has been the focus of most of his free time, including a promising interview that he did this morning for a cartographic programming company in downtown Philly. We also just got back from a 4-day weekend in MN, most of which was spent in Rochester for Nate's brother Isaac's wedding. Despite being surrounded by crazy in-laws, I had alot of fun, and they seem to all know who I am--FINALLY. Only took 6 years and a public marriage ceremony- funny how that works. Guess they'd be pretty embarassed if they couldn't pick me out of a crowd after attending our wedding....haha...

Me, I'm plugging along at my job/internship and enjoying my work, while attempting to dodge and ignore the shortcomings of my supervisor. I am still uneasy publishing much on this on the 'world wide web', so suffice it to say (yet again), that she is a struggle some days. I just mind my own business and stay occupied in my duties and enjoy the company of others and what I'm learning while I'm here.

My family came to visit a few weekends ago, which was nice, but I believe I mentioned that in the last post. We probably won't see family again until at least June for Steven's (my brother's) high school graduation, so it was a good mini-visit. We did stay one night in the cities with my parents while in MN last weekend, though- so that was pleasant too. That time I got to see Bob, despite his own busy schedule. He's busy with work alot, trying not to get laid off his new job. So, I respect that.

I feel as though I've had some pretty thoughtful last few weeks regarding jobs/moving/where to live. Nate has started the dialogue of a possible contract extension with his current job, in case he can't find employment out here. We would probably, of course, have to give an assurance that we'd come back to MN after our lease/my job is up to do this, and we would have to be willing to give up any East Coast plans. He tells me his job interview today went really well and that he likes the company so far, so maybe Philly IS our fate, for now? I feel like we have to go where the jobs are (those that still exist), and right now we don't really know where that is yet and it is driving me crazy. I am also conflicted as to whether or not I want to stay out in Philadelphia after my job is done. It is much farther than Missouri was (not a reasonable driving distance at 2 days...), and I think I may be finally getting to that point where I want to pick somewhere and just stay there. I miss having my social network in MN, even if I don't always take advantage of it- theyare/it is there. Nate and I really have no ties in PA, so that's the easy choice. However, we possibly have more job opportunity out here, which makes the immediate decision tough. Stay for a couple years, then move on? One thing I can say for sure is: I am sick and tired of being so itinerant. We need to pick something and have it done. Maybe that's just me being more comfortable with decisions made rather than having have a decision to make. Well, there's my thoughts on this current mind-num(b)er.

That's all I got- a 15 minute respite from work, so I better get back to it.

"Go knit your own sweater, Boss Lady!"

So, if you watch the show Big Love, you will recognize this line as that of Margene, from Season Two. I was watching it earlier and I can't get that line out of my head. It's hilarious!


I would like to note that every day when I walk down the corridor to my apartment all the way at one end of my building, I swear I am inhaling huge plumes of maple and brown sugar oatmeal air from my geriatric neighbors--- and I mean EVERY day. Just thought I'd let you in on a little bit of my olfactory experiences here in Philly. Also, the old folks in the building I'm pretty sure use the apt lobby as their 'gathering place' most afternoons and evenings, which I notice when I'm walking through after work. I swear I'm living in a nursing home sometimes. Why do they have a work-out gym, then? Why did all these old ppl choose MY apt building? Perhaps, how did Nate and I end up in THEIR building is the more appropriate question.

Ahh, ruminations.

So, I now have three younger 'minions' that I supervise on a daily/weekly basis at work. One volunteer intern and two workstudy students are now listening to my crazy-talk and doing what I tell them to do, and believing the nonsense that comes out of my mouth. It's kinda fun, actually (yes, yes, of course it is good experience, but that's beside the point). One girl is a senior undergraduate at Penn, and a freshman at Penn, and the other guy somewhere between freshman and senior at Penn. I 'supervise' these 3 "kids" three times per week. There is also another volunteer intern girl with whom I ocassionally share office space and is nice to talk to; she is a recent Bryn Mawr grad (B.A.) and keeps me from simply talking to myself most days. Having more people around besides my own supervisor is a NICE and very welcome change. I haven't wanted to blab a whole lot about my supervisor, for good or bad, on my blog-- because you never know who's reading this-- it is public and she is my employer. I WOULD like to get a good reference in the future so it is probably best not to say much, or one day I might be upset and say something I regret. Either way, my supervisor is not my 'friend', so I have to respect that line. Sorry kids. I will say that as I am at Penn longer, my relationships with the Museum folk get better as I get to know them.

Back to my minions....

Basically, they help me inventory objects for a big project I am working on. They are really doubling and tripling my efforts and I can hardly keep up on the back end of things I need to do after that part of the project is done. So, I am very thankful for them and they are helping me immensely. Without them, I would be doing it all by myself. Currently, we are working with objects from the Late Bronze Age site of Hasanlu in Northwest Iran, specifically the metal finds. Examples are weapons, horse accoutrements (decoration and armor), battle armor (e.g. shields, helmets), bronze vessels, figurines, jewelry etc. Mostly the objects relate to war time material and are pretty awesome stuff. Think about it-- arrowheads and maceheads and spearpoints the likely took part in the destruction of the site sometime between 1200-900 BC (and that includes the many people that were involved). I think I am gona need a face mask soon though because the metal dust is getting pretty bad. Overall though, it keeps my job interesting and keeps the interns interested.

My family is coming to visit a week from Friday for a few days, sans Bob :( Bob has to work, so I guess I can respect that... :) I am looking forward to finally doing some serious site-seeing as well as visiting. Yay!

Here are a few recent photos to give this post some color:



View over the Schuylkill River looking toward downtown, riding the train to work-- the name of the river is pronounced, as far as I have surmised, as: "school-kull". Those damn Pennsylvania Dutch make learning place names EXTREMELY tough.

Pulling in to 30th St. Station at the butt-crack of dawn

Me, sleeping in front of some Roman pottery.....

Types of weapons found at Hasanlu (not an actual photo of artifacts, photo of a public poster)

Modern map of MiddleEast: Hasanlu is just on the southern side of the lake in the NW corner of Iran, just south and west of modern Tabriz (click on pic for better resolution)

Dilinquency - so sorry

So this post is quite honestly to hold you over until I can write another entry, a better one that is... Having entirely succumbed to the holiday laziness bug, I have not written since Thanksgiving. Although, with some excuse due to traveling and busy holiday schedules, here is my "catch-up" post.
Enjoy the "new-post-bait"!


The view from my office window at the Penn Museum (the immediate building is some of the Museum building, and the buildings beyond are part of Univ. of Penn's campus).

My office from the window side. The parrot was there when I arrived, so I adopted him.

My window facade. Man, I really know how to pick a dark and dreary day for pictures.

My office as I first walk into it.

Nate and I at the annual LSS Datasystems holiday party in Minnesota, the first weekend of December (2008). Update: Nate's company officially extended his contract until the end of March (2009), so he has some more time to find a new job out here in Philly! LSS just couldn't live without him! :) (P.S. Sorry about the red-eye --- freaky!)

Our first Thanksgiving (well, married one anyway)

Here is Nate, proud as a peacock - or, make that a turkey.
Plus, we took some 'before' and 'after' photos of ourselves.


Nate with his first turkey.

MMMMMMmmmm........

Our spread.

"Before"

"After"

Absolutely AMAZING Autumn photos

About 2 weeks ago now, Nate and I went to Morris Arboretum, which is about a couple miles north of us in Philly. This is what we saw! And Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

New Digs

Greetings from the land of the Phillies, World Series 2008 Champs.

Never fear - still a Twins fan.

Nate and I arrived in Philadelphia days, if not hours before the momentous World Series game that broke the Philadelphia curse. To emphasize my point about arriving just in time, the movers that we hired to help us move in to our apartment were so highly motivated to get our stuff in and take off that they sent 2 extra guys (free) and did it in half the time because.............. they wanted to go tailgating before the BIG game (THE game, that is, the last one). Good and cheap for us. All I can say is: thank goodness we do not live closer to downtown or moving in would have been horrendous.

All in all, our new place is actually nicer than we expected, particularly the neighborhood. It is certainly one of those nice, niche neighborhoods that kinda feel like you are away from the city, but with all the conveniences of the city (e.g. train to work, walkable area for scouting out dinner--- not that we're doing much of that until the finances build up a bit...heh). We live right next the regional rail line, which takes me directly to work at the University of Pennsylvania campus, which is on the west side of downtown. VERY convenient and hella cheaper than driving + parking..........whoa baby!

Our apartment is HUGE, but all that space seems kind of ironic when you can't fill it. We are mostly filling up the open square footage for now with un- or half-opend boxes. The is by far the biggest move I've ever done; where did we get all this stuff?? How does it accumulate?? Nevertheless, every day looking for something helps us slowly find "the place" something goes and where it will remain in our new abode. We bought a couch, having brought none, and are working on finding a dining table (IKEA sale on Tuesday??...). Not that this information is all that interesting, but I think I truly understand now why people who want their home furnished and "done" as soon as they move in go broke. These things take time, people. On a truly positive note, we will have NO problem accomodating overnight guests with all this space, especially once we get a few more pieces of furniture. Not to mention our second (!!) bathroom (yes I will rant and rave about this feature forever) is pretty fabulous too. So come and visit folks! Philadelphia has lots to offer as well as being ridiculously easy/close to NYC, Baltimore, and DC.

So, I haven't even started my Thank-You's for our wedding.......... I know you have 3 months by traditional standards, but it would be nice to finish them before they become Christmas cards as well.... haha.... The biggest thing, really, is that accomplishing anything while we were in Minnesota was next to impossible (except wedding stuff) because we were half-packed away the entire time. It definitely is nice to FINALLLLLLLLLY unpack and STAY that way for a while. Seeing a favorite spatula or coffee mug or sets of sheets is like pure joy. Try it sometime -- pack all your stuff away except for bare essentials (including clothes!!!) and when you reopen everything 3-4 months later, it'll be like early Christmas!! For us, too, there were wedding present added into the mix that we couldn't play with and test out until we got here. So, that just added to the immense satisfaction of unpacking for an indefinite period of time.

My internship/job, which I started this past Monday (Nov. 3rd), has so far gone swimmingly. I got all the introductions (including those to living human staffers as well as mummies undergoing research), did paperwork, got my office (!!) organized and ancient computer updated, wandered the museum trying to get oriented and not lost, took many tours of the maze of artefact storage rooms with which I will be working intimately, did some reading to get me caught up on the archaeological site I will be working on, and well, sat on my ass looking out the nice window waiting to be told what to do next (because my supervisor is still getting used to the fact that I am around). I'm told I will be "busy soon," so I am enjoying the slow pace while it still lingers.

Nate and I are intending to go to a local arboretum tomorrow (it has been raining non-stop this week and it is finally supposed to be sunny then), and hopefully we can capture some of the last colors of New England fall and post them.

Speaking of New England, I can definitely understand why New Englanders can be so snotty about Midwestern architecture now. The history, landscape, and architecture of regular, residential homes around here is amazing. It would be like going to the land of cookie-cutter subdivisions on crack for them. The was certainly a striking observation I had right away.

Well, that's my post-move update and hopefully more to follow now that the settling in process has taken root.

The Honeymoon is over, hunny - but the best is yet to come

Here are a few teaser photos from our honeymoon in Costa Rica. :)

The top one of me is on the beach at our hotel, with black sands and slightly overcast skies.

The second is one of MANY tropical, colorful flowers in the area.

The third is Nate (shouldn't he look happier?..hehe...) in front of the hotel's sign. It was called Banana Azul and is just outside Puerto Viejo in SE Costa Rica.

The 4th is, well, Nate and I.

and

the last one is my FIRST cup of Costa Rican coffee (major, major domestic product of CR) and I even found a cup with the Costa Rican flag on it. Mmmmmm... "Tico" coffee...!

As kind of a "Part 2" of my posting for our adventure, here goes.

After the previously mentioned adventures, Nate and I did alot of swimming, relaxing, reading, loafing, bicycling to town, and a couple more local adventures. I'll start with the "less satisfying" adventure, the one which caused the one and only 'meltdown' of the trip. We started off with this great idea of going to another 'playa' or beach a few kilometers away one day which we'd heard had beautiful blue, clear ocean and white sands. We took a cab to this wonderful beach and promptly plopped ourselves down on a good bit of beach. We spent a couple hours just lying there, and occasionally getting up to swim and cool off. I spent alot of time staring at, playing with, taking pictures of, and following lil beach crabs around my towel while laying there. The afternoon was all fine and well, except that we apparently had picked the hottest day to go. After a while, it was just toooo hot, I was baking, and needed to get out of the sun, sit, and cool off. And no, swimming wasn't even really cooling us off anymore at this point. So we decided to walk to the next town over, where we had intended to go next to swim and to end up for dinner, and where our cab would pick us up afterwards.

Well, we ended up walking more than a few kilometers by road and beach, which didn't seem to end. Finally, to make a long, cranky story short, we found a lil convenience store, had some ice cream and OJ and waited on some steps while watching the numerous stray dogs sniff hineys for 45 minutes, until the restaurant we wanted to eat at would open. Thank goodness the food was fabulous at 'Jungle Love,' or our incredibly long and exhausting and hot and sticky and sandy day would have been a lil too adventurous. Freash tuna steaks and the chicken special healed all our weariness and wounds of the day. To top it off, showering that night when we returned to our hotel was the best shower I could remember in a while. Stickiness, dampness, dirt, and sand (in every crack and orifice) disappeared.

Better than this adventure were our adventures to the canopy zip-line tour and one of the National Parks in our area. Early in the second week, we decided it was a good day to take off for one of the activities we had been waiting for: the jungle canopy tour! This is a favorite local touristy activity which involved a lil bit of grit, lack of fear of heights, ability to hike a lil bit, and no fear of creatures - whether bugs or bats or monkeys. I knew I would be nervous about this, and I was, but after the first zipline, I was hooked. The canopy tour consists of a series of wooden platforms connected by zipline wires through varying heights of high elevation jungle canopy (canopy = the tops of jungle trees the cover the jungle below, e.g. where the monkeys tend to hang out, and where the views are spectacular). We were strapped into sitting harnesses, kind of like climbing harnesses, which hook onto a pulley that hangs on the wire. Simply hook in, sit, and zip! Some are faster or longer than others, and there is some hiking between some platforms, but mostly it is platform to platform. We were able to take pictures on the platforms (only -- none while "zipping" because you need both hands to guide you so you dont spin around), and we also saw and heard many animals and weird plants. There were lizards and fruit bats, and "bullet" ants, which according to one of the guides gives "5-day pain," as in, you feel like a bullet has gone through you at the bite. Also, those ants were more like mutants because they were larger than some roaches! Grosss! Anyway, we steered clear of those. We were really hoping to see monkeys in the canopy, but we didn't. However, we did HEAR them. The Howler Monkeys, a common species in the area, can be heard often for miles and we came fairly close to a band of them and were able to record some of their sounds on our camera. When we finally did see them on another adventure, it was hard to believe such a huge, deep sound could come from such a small monkey.

The canopy tour was defintely worth it, despite any initial hesitancy. It was fun, educational, beautiful, and more!

Another adventure Nate and I went on was the Cahuita National Park, several kilometers north along the coast from Puerto Viejo. This park is well maintained and even better than we had expected. It has one long loop path which follows the coastal circumference of the park, so you are always near the ocean, both good for views and breeze. It was here, in the first kilometer (of the many we walked that day) where we saw 2 species of monkeys: the White-Faced Capuchin and the Mantled Howler Monkey. The Capuchins were a lil easier to spot high above our heads in the canopy because they have 2 colors, black and white, but the Howlers make so much noise that they are next to impossible to miss. The monkeys are defintely aware of the humans (whether one of a group of 10) walking below. They would throw things down toward you, whether fruit or leaves or seeds, or in one case we saw on a park sign: monkey poo. So, one indication of a monkey high above was falling debris.

Besides monkeys, the nice trail led us along diverse lengths of jungle, both in flora and fauna. We saw many types of crabs (sand crabs, hermit crabs), star flowers, these lil red beans I kept thinking looked like jellybeans, and even a yellow viper which a park ranger pointed out in a tree above us while we were enjoying a lookout point overlooking a large coral reef. Apparently if bitten, you have one hour to get anti-venom, so we didn't linger there despite the jovialness of the ranger and his stating that the snake is scared to come down from the tree.

Right at the end of the trail, we lucked out and came across a very close band of Howlers who were making a huge racket for all the tourists and local kids swimming at the beach. MAN those are noisy monkeys!

That concludes the honeymoon adventures report for now.

As an update, Nate and I will be taking off for Philadelphia on Monday, October 27th, so we hope to see some of you before we go, and Nicki & Dusty-- see you soon!!

Costa Rica - first few days

Wedded and out of the country. Probably a good place to be right about now, seeing the state of affairs in the US of A. The first few days here have been great, and although I have vowed to use little or no internet (that is, "unplug") while here, I felt it would not only be fun for others to read, but good for me in the sense of wanting to remember the fun bits I might not in months/years to come.

We traveled 2 days ago with a British couple to several sites in the area and the man made a good social commentary about his work partnership with an Austin, Texas based company. He frequently flies to the US from the UK, and recently one of his more permanant compatriot coworkers said, " I always wanted to retire in a developing country, and now I dont even have to move". haha...right? kinda. Nate and I decided that if the 700 Billion dollar deal is a bust, we will just stay here. again-- haha, right? well, maybe.

Besides all the international commingling, we have downright settled into the relaxed "Tican" attitude. But of course doing some of the touristy things. We have visited a Sloth Sanctuary, a Chocolate Lady (a local native-blooded woman) who grows and makes chocolate from her cacao trees (fantastic!), and a really great but difficult to get to/somewhat scary waterfall and natural pool -- all great! We´ve even rented a couple bicycles and ridden to town (Puerto Viejo in the province of Limon). We have found some neat souvenirs and tried homemade coconut ice cream. I think the most memorable bit of bicycling was when a cat came out of no where chasing a giant bearded lizard which was running on its hind feet and ran right under my pedals!! That is definitely NOT something you see everyday!!

The beaches in our area and right outside our hotel are all "playas negras", black volcanic beaches. There are no volcanos in the area that we know of, but the country was at one time fairly active seismically and still has one continuously erupting volcano (since about the 1960s I think), Mt. Arenal, about 8 hours NW of where we are. The sand and ocean are very warm, so the waterfall pool in the jungle was more refreshing in a way. I like the salt water though; always good for your skin and hair.

When we first arrived in San Jose (4 hours N/NW of Puerto Viejo) and started on our shuttle ride toward our hotel, I could really see the allure of the country and why people travel and retire here. Although it is a developing country, it has a lot of flavor and history, both native and European, and mixed Carribbean influences, clearly visible all over. Driving along you see vast banana groves, huge coffee farms, lush vegetation, and of course the bicyclists, motorbikers, and cars vying for space on the roads. The road into our final destination was good until about the last few kilometers, where it alternated between patches of spottily-paved roads and terribly gravelly ones with massive potholes, making you wish the shuttle provided a helmet inside the car should you hit the next big bump. Oh yeah-- sleeping that first night was a wonder to be sure-- letting our backs relax after 4 hours of rattling.

Anyhow, when we first arrived I was dismayed to not find a hair-drier. This is standard in a nice hotel, right? Well, after noticing several "lacking" conveniences, I allowed myself to not care and then rightly realize that it just didnt matter and who wants to blow that much hot air on yourself in this heat anyway??? Not I. This has been the general attitude I was talking about; taking it slow, not having to go anywhere, sleeping in the hammock, reading endless amounts of books, playing chess, and heading to the beach at any moment should the urge strike.

And there is still so much to do!

Singlehood

So in "my last days" in singletonville I'm busy buying kazoos, waiting to get a mani-pedi, picking up decorations, making dinner for Nate, trying to find an apartment in Philly, signing my life away to a new job, wandering around in a maze of a lingering mess of boxes and assorted packed and unpacked items in this house, and generally losing sleep and having strange dreams over stupid things. This morning I even woke up to the neighbor watering my 2 exterior bedroom walls with his sprinkler (again), beating on those walls and one window every 10-15 seconds loudly. Why someone would want to water anyone's house, I'm not sure, but at least the window wasn't OPEN this time, or I would have been "sprinkled" on at 8am.

Is this the glorified glowing bride to-be?

Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun and trying to minimize stress in every possible way: whether by actually doing things and checking them off my list (mostly), mentally (running or watching my new favorite TV show "Jon and Kate Plus 8"), or simply avoiding making decisions or managing details (which I eventually get to after longer thought than snap decisions).

I THINK things are in order, but some things are just out of my hands. The moment you think things are on track, you're screwed. If you think that's superstitious, I had a small stomach flip this afternoon when I looked out the back door and saw a black cat wandering around on the deck, only to stare at me for a minute before sauntering off into the alley. *shakes head* Why me??!! Why now??!! Like I said, some things are just meant to be. I shouldn't even mention this, but I have been religiously checking the weather forecast for Saturday for a couple weeks now. I shall say no more, except that everytime I check it's different and it's driving me crazy! I shouldn't even bother because regardless of whether or not I check, what will be, will be.

It has certainly been a fun time to be with family and friends, but at the same time I feel like when I do things with them -- it seems there's always a to-do list, if not only in the back of our minds, rather than the moment at hand. I wish things were calmer, but in a way it's good; it is more of an excuse than ever to get together and do fun things.

I think I've been rather stoic thus far with the details in wedding planning and getting excited. Don't mistake me for being aloof or irreverent, just simply maintaining an exterior composure of calmness (at times, at least). I have moments of excitement rather than a constant state of exuberance (which could be annoying). I think for Nate and I, getting married is both a long time coming and a big step. We will be the one of the first married "kids" in our families and that has got to resonate with the grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I wouldn't say we're icebreakers, but definitely defining a new generation of time -- even for ourselves.

There's my deep thought for the day.

Besides this, I happily look forward to "unplugging" in Costa Rica for several days, and trying not to think about too much except what the hell was Jane Austen thinking in Mansfield Park or thank god for Philip K. Dick's psychotic state of mind, while mushing my feet into sand, listening to monkeys howling, and watching Nate's skin turn a nice shade of red or brown.



P.S. Happy Birthday, Nate! <3

Our wedding venue slideshow! Cedarhurst Mansion

Cedarhurst


These are just some snapshots that either my mom or I have taken since last winter at various times. All the "wedding'y" stuff isn't set up, but it is still very pretty! :)

Less than 5 days to go, then off to Costa Rica for a couple weeks where we'll be off the radar! Then more travel, and off to Philly!

Nicki & Dusty: see you soon!


<3
chris

Less than 12 days and counting.....

I just wanted to write a little note about the current state of frenzy that is beginning to stir....

There is less than 12 days until the "I do's" and still much "to-do" before then. Alot of little things. Tomorrow morning, my mom and I are going to pick out flowergirl baskets after an internet order fiasco went awry, sending us only green ribbon instead. We are also going to look for some 'low-tone' noise-makers, like kazoos or clappers or something because yours truly despises the high-pitch clinking of glasses.... Yes, I know it is tradition, but there are plenty of others that are just as great, so we're making the 'kissy tradition' easier on the ears.

After that, we're going to the hair salon to do trim and wedding day hair-style trial, hopefully with my veil, too. This way everything will be planned out ahead of time and done much quicker on wedding day morning. :)

Then, I'm going to check out this salon/spa place in St. Paul that my maid of honour and I may go to for facials and mani-pedis.

Then dinner with Natie, then off to my Aunt's house to visit and see my cute lil cousin flowergirls. My mom and I are going to deliver their flowercrowns, ribbons, and see their nice dresses in person. I'm very excited!

Now that you know my whole day schedule for tomorrow I'll quit, because I'm sure it is kind of a weird post. Basically, it is just a sampling of the random things I'm doing these days. Every day is different and every day reminds me of something else I've got to add to the never-ending, ever-growing list --- which really must stop at some point, right???..... That remains to be seen.

So far, so good.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes....

And now.... for that much needed update........

I am living currently in Saint Paul at my grampa's old house, I'm still working on my thesis, I'll be in MN until after Nate's and my honeymoon (through mid-October), and I accepted a job in Philadelphia (albeit, not the same one I interviewed for) which will start as soon as Nate and I can move out there in October. That's the 2-cent version!

So it is a lil over a month away before the wedding.... and since I will actually get to be in Minnesota the month before the wedding (fortunately), I think I'm finally able to get more and more excited. There's still much to do, of course, but I'll actually be able to do more of it myself and also go with my mom on all those in-town errands!

In addition to all that hustle and bustle, Nate and I are working on my grampa's house trying to get it sale-ready. The more days we are here, the more we realize how much there is to be done. For those of you with little to modest electrical knowledge can appreciate "grounded" electrical outlets. Well, this house is about 50-60 years old (post-WWII) and does NOT have a good number of those..... Not good, and definitely in need of updating. It is risky to even plug in your nice tv or computer or other big electronics. It also means that many-most of the sockets in this house do NOT have 3 prongs. Now THAT is annoying. Imagine your current abode without 3-prong sockets. Yeah. Not very useful. Also, at some point, someone put 3-prong outlet faceplates over some of the sockets, but without that third prong actually ever having been converted! Someone just switched out the faceplates without actually updating the electrical! That is very misleading and not very smart, either. Anyway, in order not to drag this technical jargon out any further, let's just say that without grounded, 3-prong sockets, your tv could actually blow up if your house is struck by lightning, as opposed to safely traveling to the ground and discharging somewhere safely, rather than through one of your beloved electronic devices.

I could go on and on about the cleaning and updating the house needs, but I won't bore you any further. Just come visit us sometime and we'll show you if you're that interested. haha...

As far as my job offer/acceptance, I accepted a one-year paid internship as a Junior Keeper (of the Near Eastern section) at UPenn's University Museum. It is essentially a 'junior' version of the position I actually originally applied for and interviewed for. I got beat out by one other person (whom I'll be working with...) who had more experience, which was indeed my weakest feature. The selection committee was "very impressed" with me, however, and offered me the Junior position instead. I look at it this way: I lacked experience, they liked me, I didn't quite make the cut, so they offered me that experience I needed! They could have handed me a "thank you very much, good bye," but they didn't. Basically, this is a more realistic next logical step for me and will give me some great experience. There is the opportunity to get to know the institution and see if I like it, too. If I do, I will be able to get my foot in the door in case any internal positions open up and if I don't, I am not stuck there like I would be if it were a more tenured position. So all in all, it is a good career move for me.
So now you're wondering, "what about Nate?" Well, that's a more complicated story, but he most likely will be looking for a new job before January. All telecommuters and contract employees are going to be eliminated by the end of 2008, so that means Nate. He has been with his company for 3 years and is also ready to move on, so now is the time we have decided. It wasn't an easy decision, but after hours of discussion we have decided is the right one for us. To put it into more perspective, that means that if he wanted to stay with his current company, I would be stuck job searching only in the Twin Cities, i.e. Mpls/St. Paul or nothing is the deal, according to the company's plans. So if I found a good job anywhere but the Cities, Nate would have to do something else.
We are very happy that I have found such a good position and that Nate gets the opportunity to try something new and potentially use some more of those skills he learned in college in a new, and hopefully better job. We will both be diversifying and learning and moving forward! We will also get to test out East coast living in Philadelphia! Maybe family/friends will actually visit us since we will be in a decent-sized city...(as opposed to Columbia)....!!

I just want to give a shout-out to my girl, Laura, who started law school at Hamline this week!!! Wahooooooooooo!!